When We Play
by ABottleOfWine
Summary: Ranya wasn't like any other elleth Tauriel had ever met. To Tauriel, she looked like a painting, outworldly and mysterious, and something about her attracted the captain beyond any explanation to feelings she had never known before. Tauriel/OC


**Hello there everyone!**

 **I've decided to write this story about dear Tauriel, since I've found so few girl/girl stories in this category and because honestly, who doesn't love Tauriel?**

 **Now you guys may be shocked to learn it but I do not own Tauriel, Legolas, or anyone created by Tolkien (blessed be his memory) or Peter Jackson.**

 **To those who already know my previous work, this story will be rather different from my work with Hazel, it won't be so perfectly linear, but I hope you guys enjoy it.**

 **I promise I'll try to update as frequently as possible, but I forewarn you guys that I'm prone to bouts of creative block. Srry in advance, please don't hate me.**

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Chapter I

"Are you sure you'll be alright lass?" Bálin asked, watching Tauriel mount her horse. Some other dwarves watched her from the high balcony of the Erebor fortress.

"Yes, master Bálin. Thank you for your hospitality." The eleth's voice was melancholic as herself.

"You'll be always welcome here, should you wish to return. Or not to part."

Tauriel smiled sadly, shaking her head.

"I must leave, master Bálin. Farewell, until we meet again."

The dwarf shook his white head.

"Don't give false hopes to an old dwarf. Farewell, fair one."

Tauriel bowed her head in respect and turned from the mountain, taking the way down to the city of Dale.

She had spent over two months among the dwarves in Erebor. In the first night after the battle, they found her sitting in the snow by Kili's body, took her in and got her a hot meal and a place to sleep. The following day they refused to let her leave because she was still too weak, and she watched the funerals. Day after day, she stayed and watched the snow get thicker and the mountain come alive again with dwarves working and going about their business.

The fishermen from Esgaroth went to the lake for fishing and back to Dale and to Erebor to sell their fish. The dwarves lit the furnaces and worked their craft, making weapons and tools, and so it was always warm and busy inside the mountain. Tauriel felt grateful for being among Kili's people, but as time went by the mountain started to feel claustrophobic, and she longed for the sky and the woods she loved so much, and so she set her mind to go to Lothlórien and pledge her loyalty to the lords of the Golden Wood, where she might live on the trees and close to the sky.

The dwarves gave all sorts of excuses and ultimately refused to allow her to leave in the middle of winter. The former captain knew they liked her and worried about her, which was reciprocal, but she wasn't made for living inside a mountain, under the ground. As all of her kind, she was fond of fresh air and watching the stars, and when the snow melted away they finally accepted she had to go.

Tauriel felt overall odd. She was still in pain for Kili's death, and knowing she could never return to the Woodland Realm. She missed Legolas terribly. But the cold wind reminded her that she was in the open, and the sky above her copper head was very blue. She passed by the lake, making sure not to come too close to the gates of her former home, as Thranduil's guard would have to take her prisoner if she ever set foot in his kingdom again.

Instead, she rode South, the chilly wind her constant companion telling her of the green things coming alive where the land was already warmer, as she followed the borders of the Mirkwood, stopping every now and then so that her horse may rest.

Toy wasn't like the horses bred by elves, like the one Legolas had, brought from Rivendell as a gift from Lord Elrond. This horse was bred and educated by mortal men, so it might take them a time to get to understand each other, but, still, it was a good beast, eager to please her.

Tauriel and Toy stopped under the cover of the trees when the sun began to set. They were now far enough so there was hardly any soldier of the Woodland Realm guard around. Tauriel climbed one of the trees as fast as she could, and emerged over the canopy of the forest to see the sky painted in beautiful orange and gold.

She stood there, staring at the endlessness as it turned into a deep cold blue, sprinkled with stars all over. The sacred memory of the eldar. Tauriel searched the stars for the memory of Kili, and their light brought back all her memories of them like in a vivid colourful dream. Tears ran down her face as lived those moments once more. She was grateful to have known Kili, desolated to have lost him, and relieved to have the memory of him so alive within herself.

Kili was one of the greatest things that had ever happened to Tauriel in her long life, but did she love him? Until Kili appeared, Tauriel had always been sure she loved Legolas. The prince was her companion since childhood, when her parents were high-ranked soldiers of the king. They had grown up together, learned to fight together, and they worked in perfect synchrony ever since Tauriel could remember. Legolas was friendly to her, more than anyone, and he was also killingly handsome and charming. Ever since Tauriel started to grow older and take the shape of an adult elleth, his smile made her feel _things_. She was pretty sure she loved him.

But then Kili showed up. Kili adored her from the first time they met. There was a light of passion in his eyes that bewitched her. He loved her, that's for sure, but did she love him? Would she have given up her immortal life to be with him? Tauriel was unwilling to admit it to herself, but she knew she wouldn't. At least not then. She loved him now, for his love of her and his sacrifice. Maybe, had he lived, she would have grown to love him.

The light of so many stars was truly blissful for her, and not far form where she was, the river sparkled with their reflection and ran smoothly, lulling her. Before she even noticed, Tauriel was lost in her dreams of running through the woods and among the stars, where Legolas' laughter never left her.

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The reddish dawn brought Tauriel back to reality and she sighed, stretching her long limbs and enjoying the moment of innocence before reality weighed down on her again.

There was the sound of sweet singing in the distance, and the former captain was much surprised to see another elleth by the river, sitting down on a stone while half a dozen horses drank in the cold water. From where she stood, Tauriel could only see waves of wheat-coloured hair moving with the breeze.

She approached the stranger, eager for contact with one her own kind.

"Greetings"

The elleth turned to her with the most beautiful smile Tauriel had ever seen.

"Greetings, sister. I am Ranya."

Tauriel couldn't help but mirror her smile.

"Tauriel, enchanted to meet you."

"And so am I. Are you travelling?"

"To Lothlórien." Tauriel said simply.

The other elleth didn't inquire any further, but stood up in one movement surprisingly graceful even for elvish standards, and Tauriel noticed something very peculiar about her. She wasn't thin and slender like most elleths, but plump and full. Fat was the word to describe her. Some might say it like it was something bad, but Tauriel doubted anyone who had ever encountered Ranya would. She was perfect. Taking in the whole figure of her, Tauriel could say she was was fair and buxom, with big doe eyes of a pale creamy blue. She was absolutely gorgeous to behold, and the former captain wondered the impression such an elleth would cause in the Elvenking's court.

"I'm going to Rohan. We can travel together for a while."

Her voice brought Tauriel back to reality and she noticed, quite embarrassed, that she had been staring.

"That would be great."

"Great." Ranya smiled again, and two pretty dimples appeared on her cheeks.

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"So River is..." Tauriel took a moment calculating "12,5% eastern?"

"Yes." Ranya agreed, patting the mare's neck "I would bet on her against Scadufax any time."

Tauriel laughed at that.

"You wouldn't."

"I wouldn't." Ranya agreed, chuckling "But she's pretty fast."

Tauriel fixed her eyes on the orange skyline for some time, remembering a time when her mother had taken her to Rivendell and some young ellon had called her 'sunset haired girl'. He was handsome, dark haired and bard-like and utterly shallow.

Legolas had never had the imagination to say such things to her. Once, in the early days of their courtship, they were training together and he had the idea to pay her a compliment, and so he produced the ultimate gem of seduction: 'I liked your punch'.

Tauriel chuckled at the remembrance, and found Ranya looking at her with curiosity in her dreamy blue eyes. The setting sun cast a reddish light on her breeze-stirred hair and her plump face looked like a peach. With dimples. They looked at each other for a moment before an owl called their mate in the woods, catching their attention.

"We should rest for today."

Tauriel nodded in agreement, heading to a spot under the protection of the woods. The woods in the Mirkwood, save for those closer and inside the palace walls, were always melancholic and lethargic, tired of the wickedness that had befallen their dwelling place. Still, they offered some shelter for the horses, and a place closer to the sky for Tauriel.

"You like spending the night atop the trees?" Ranya asked, watching as Tauriel jumped from branch to brach.

"There's a better view of the stars up here." She justified.

Ranya nodded in agreement, laying on the dead leaves that covered the forest ground and resting her chin on her arms, which rested upon a fallen tree trunk. Her eyes stared into the distance, sending her into her dreams, and she left out a serene sigh. Tauriel watched her, the wheat-coloured hair looking like silver in the moonlight, until she herself was lost in her dreams of starlight and the sounds of the forest, and Legolas laughing somewhere in the distance.

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 **So, that's Chapter I, I hope you guys enjoyed it 3**

 **If you found this promising, don't forget to follow so you won't miss the next chapter! And please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this new project.**

 **That's it for now, xoxo!**


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